LUCKNOW: The BJP may be shouting from the rooftops about a Narendra Modi 'wave' sweeping the country, but they have been doubly careful while selecting candidates in Uttar Pradesh, a state that sends 80 MPs to the Lok Sabha and possibly holds the key to the Gujarat CM's prime ministerial ambitions.

In fact, so meticuolous have they been in their exercise to nominate candidates that they have decided they would rather face protests than repeat many of the old faces, however mighty their clout. Stray incidents of dissent have been reported, only to have been brushed aside summarily by a leadership which refused to be intimidated by reputations like those of grandees like Murli Manohar Joshi, Kesari Nath Tripathi, Vinay Katiyar and Surya Pratap Shahi.

Except in the case of six candidates including party's PM candidate, Narendra Modi, Rajnath Singh, Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti, the criterion of live engagement with the constituency was scrupulously adhered to even at the cost of some of the favourites of the "high command".

"Candidates were identified after rigorous rounds of grassroots surveys involving professionals," said a senior BJP leader who assisted in the selection process. "Several wings of the party as well as the RSS participated in it. It was decided that the party will not go by face value and stature alone. Names were instead finalized on the basis of each candidate's current potential."

In all this, said BJP sources, party general secretary and UP in charge Amit Shah played a crucial role, personally visiting all districts in the state -- a few of them twice -- to take detailed feedback from local workers. "The entire state was divided into four zones with one sah-prabhari appointed for each. They collected data about winnable candidates, which was then compared with the surveys done by the professionals," added another BJP leader in the know of things.

Party seems to have has leaned heavily on non-Yadav OBCs, a bloc that was once considered the party's vote-bank but that had slipped away mainly after the exit of leaders like Kalyan Singh. The list of candidates released so far shows that Lodhs, Kalyan Singh's caste, have taken the lion's share.

Poll managers have also taken the traditional rivalry between Thakurs and Brahmins into account, and refrained from being generous towards the communities. The stance has been encouraged by the confidence that , with the two upper caste communities already inside the saffron tent, party could afford to be a bit favourable to the OBCs. Besides enlisting the support of the "backward castes", the indulgence of OBCs is also expected to help the party steer clear of traditional tensions between Thakurs an Brahmins

Insiders say that the tallest among Lodh leaders, Kalyan Singh, decided the names of candidates from Aligarh, Bulandshahar, Etah, where his son Rajvir will be fighting, and Mainpuri. The former CM is also insisting on fielding a loyalist from Hathras, where the party's choice is someone else. Unnao candidate Sakshi Maharaj, too, is a Lodh. And so is Uma Bharti, who will be contesting from Jhansi.But however much the party justifies its list of candidates, eyebrows have been raised at some rank 'outsiders' coming in.

The BJP's choice of candidate for Allahabad, for instance, biri baron Shyam Charan Gupta, hasn't been received well by some within the fold. While anti-smoking activists have been up in arms, Gupta who once won on SP ticket has the reputation of being a turncoat. He joined the BJP barely a few days ago.

Party veteran Kesarinath Tripathi, who Gupta tripped to claim the Allahabad ticket, will not be too happy at his change of fortune. Tripathi had lost the 2004 Lok Sabha polls from Machchlishahar, but was hopeful about Allahabad after the high command called him to ask if he was interested in the seat. A section of party workers have not been able to stomach the fact that Tripathi, a former assembly speaker and a known Brahmin face in the region, has been overlooked to give Gupta a chance.